Auto Pan

Auto Pan gives you the ability to make quick work of a pan and zoom on stills or video, without resorting to keyframes. This effect incorporates an animation engine so a move will be made between your chosen beginning position and end position automatically.

Setup

Auto Pan can be applied on either a still photograph or a moving video to make pan and zoom moves without the use of your NLE keyframe controls. Animate stills to make photography come alive, or animate video to emulate dolly moves.

It is recommended to start your work by checking the Set Up View checkbox. This will show you two rectangles – blue and red, which represent the beginning and end of the move, respectively.

Adjust your position by changing the values of the Position X and Y controls, or use your NLE’s on-screen control points to move the rectangles. You will notice that as you get close to the edges of your footage, the rectangle will size down automatically, so that you avoid including any area outside your footage.

Repeat the same with the end rectangle.

Choose which type of animation behavior you wish with the Velocity drop-down and select any Start or End hold duration under the Animation section you wish.

Uncheck the Set Up View checkbox and watch your result.

Set Up View allows you to see your whole frame while controlling the position, size and rotation of your Start and End points, blue and red respectively. Remember to check this box OFF when you are ready to see your animation.

Position determines the XY placement of your Start or End position for the animation, depending on if you are in the Start or End section of the effect.

Rotate controls the amount of Z rotation at your Start or End. Maximum rotation is 45 degrees. If rotating your footage causes the frame to touch the edge of your footage, automatic zoom will kick in and reduce the zoom level of your picture to compensate.

Zoom controls the amount of zoom or sizing on your picture. It takes affect after any auto resize has been applied (determined by how close you are to the edge of your footage). It is recommended to first choose your position, and only then dial in an amount of zoom control you wish.

Velocity controls the behavior of how your pan and zoom behaves with speed.

Ease In causes your animation to start gradually and then end abruptly.

Ease Out causes your animation to start abruptly and then end gradually.

Smooth causes your animation to start and end gradually.

Linear causes your animation to start and end abruptly and move at an even speed.

Start Hold is the number of seconds you wish your footage to hold still before the auto animation begins

End Hold is the number of seconds you wish your footage to hold still after the auto animation has ended.